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Session 2 (Nadel's Dark Magic)
Session 0 (Introductions): The investigators meet each other. Fred Nadel explains his predicament. Session 1 (Nadel's Dark Magic): A third of the team research the clues; a third go to the Tenderloin; a third go into the Washington Square Arch. Session 2 (Tensy's Nightmare): (Game Play: Oct. 01, 2009) Dec. 12, 1913, Fri. More of the dust-zombie-things are coming after Leticia and Mark. Screaming at each other over the din of the machinery, they decide to send Mark down the corridor and Leticia will come behind him, giving him cover, since she has several bullets left and Mark only has three. Mark takes the flashlight; Leticia hopes that she can see using the electrical flashes. Mark tries to crawl as fast as he can,but continuously bangs and scrapes his knees, hands and elbows. Leticia kneels down, slowly backing into the corridor. One suddenly comes from her high right and she gets a good look at it. It has no eyes, a membrane over a screaming mouth, a cold pallor, and seems to suck away her very soul. It scares the shit out of her – she's stunned for a sec – and then, right before it swings its taloned claws, she unloads her gun into its head. The first shot only leaves dust swirling around the wound, but the fifth shot blows it's head off, which causes it to collapse in a pile of dust. After what seems like minutes, Mark makes it out of the tunnel. He scurries around until he finds a large boulder, which he pushes to the exit. He's ready to roll the boulder in front of the exit and anxiously yells to Leticia. Leticia is moving as fast as she can with several of the things behind her. One viciously attacks her lower leg. She starts kicking, then rolls around fires her last bullets. Thankfully, the thing collapses. Screaming, she gets out of the tunnel with Mark's help, and then Mark rolls the bolder in front of the tunnel, which lands on the thing's arm which collapses into dust and clods of dirt. They run/stagger/limp back to the gate and hear a distant twittering. Mark, filled with fear and adrenaline, miraculously lifts the gate high enough for Leticia to squeeze underneath. He then stands up and limbos to the other side, letting the gate crash behind him. Tired, bloody and sore, they limp/run to the ladder. They hear an ominous twittering behind them, but they are already climbing to the Arch. Mark, shining his flashlight behind him, sees something crawling out of the ground. He gets a good look at it and it terrifies him. It is corpse-like and naked, but with stringy clumpy hair, cataract eyes, and a transparent membrane over a rotted mouth. He snaps out of it and Mark and Leticia exit into the freezing December air and stumble over to St. Vincent's hospital. That night, a messenger comes to the Fred Nadel's door to tell the investigators that Mark and Leticia are at St. Vincent's hospital. Maj. Haywrd and Mr. Nadel are woken up and both decide to let the others sleep, since neither Mark nor Leticia are critically injured. The next morning, Maj. Haywrd tells the others that Mark and Leticia are in the hospital. They arrange for a private doctor to stay at Fred Nadel's and have Mark and Leticia brought to Nadel's. At breakfast, Milli tells them that the coin, the knife, and the Codex (the folded papers with hieroglyphics) are all Mayan, and are all from the Classic Period (200-900 AD). The coin is not really a coin but a barter chip for a Mayan sporting game, and the knife is a sacrificial knife for keeping the sun alive. She thinks that the Codex is a collection of rituals used to summon... something, or maybe to keep something at bay. She's not sure. She believes that the three rituals that they have are the first part of a larger summoning ritual, and that there is at least one other ritual that they do not have. She also thinks that a protection spell was supposed to be cast before any other spell, but she's not sure. She does know that the Codex is dedicated to Xbalanque, one of the Hero Twins. Furthermore, the “protection spell” is to keep the Old-Black-God's eyes shut (The Old-Black-God is the king of Xiabalba, the Mayan underworld/hell). If the sorcerer-priest (Ahau Can Mai) does not give a symbolic coin to the Old-Black-God, Cuchumaquic (translated: Gathered Blood) will come. Mayan Guide/Pronunciation: Xbalanque, one of the Hero Twins, pronounced: Sher-ballankay Xiabalba, Mayan hell, pronounced: Shee bahlbah Ahau Can Mai, Mayan sorcerer, pronounced: Ah-how Kahn Mahyi Cuchumaquic, translated: Gathered Blood, pronounced: Kootchoo mah-keek After much discussion, they decide to split into an “intelligence team” consisting of Milli, Kenneth, Antoinette, and Lawrence, with Fred Nadel showing them how he cast the other spells. They are going to study as hard as they can and try to learn the “protection ritual.” They have four days, which they protest is an impossible feat. Maj. Haywrd and Agent Landsburg call Col. Stuebbin who yells at Haywrd for allowing a two man team to go into a dangerous situation without adequate firepower or back-up. He tells them he will get them access to weaponry and wants constant updates – the Sen. is on his ass and wants results. Leticia and Mark are both injured and heal and rest. Leticia goes to her boat and stays with her ward. Mark goes home to his wife and child who worry about his new assignment. Meanwhile, Ross and Maj. Haywrd decide they're the “ground team” and head out into NYC looking for clues. First, with the results of the blood test back, they find out that the blood found in Clive's apartment matches both the blood type of Clive and of his missing wife. They then go to the Ocelot with Fred Nadel, where Nadel both rehearsed his now-defunct stage production, cast the “shadow spell,” and misfired the “wall-walking spell,” “Walk Through Shadow Valley.” They examine the brick wall that collapsed and take samples of the carbonized brick, which they send out to a lab. Dec. 13, Sat. Maj. Haywrd, at Fred's insistence, stays behind to protect the Hurit sisters, Dora and Tensy, and the intelligence team. Not sure how to help, Ross continues to physically follow any trails suggested by Ambrosio and Bufred's notes. Fred Nadel goes with him. Bufred's notes mention that Beatrice and her gang were collecting Ambrosio paintings, but they don't find any of his paintings at her house. Ross re-investigates the seven members of Beatrice's gang. First, they revisit Colin Mallery's apartment. Collin Mallery was a well-known society photographer, but his apartment and studio have been rented out and everything inside was sold to a junk house. Ross checked out his place months ago – it is a dead end. Second, Clarence Hightower, who was an art and antiquities dealer. He owned his apartment and his storage space, and Ross also throughly searched both spaces months ago, but didn't look for any particular paintings. However, there are no Ambrosio Martinez's at either his apartment or his storage space. Meanwhile, Maj. Haywrd asks Col. Stuebbin to look for Bufred Washington and a girl named Lajidie. He also requests that Sen. Emerson come back to NYC for a few questions. Ross and Fred fruitlessly look for The Seven's Lower East Side hide-out. The intelligence team continues to research the spells. Dec. 14, Sun. Maj. Haywrd and Ross convince Fred to watch everyone else and promise they will come back every few hours. They wander the city, looking for evidence of Ambrosio Martinez, and interview the people who were connected to him. Ross breaks down when he realizes that Ambrosio is connected to the worst case he ever dealt with – the Johannson Case, where he and Mark were looking for the young daughter of the Johannson family. They found her, dead and mutilated, missing her eyes, and with her little hands decayed like a leper's, and with glassy translucent skin underneath. He brakes into a rage and starts kicking the shit out of garbage cans. Eventually, he excuses himself and goes to spend the night with Mark and his family. Dec. 15, Mon. Mark, Ross and Leticia all return to Fred Nadel's house. Tension is high as everyone realizes they only have one day before the disappearance of Fred, Tensy, or Dora. The intelligence team is exhausted and still not close to learning the spell. The ground team goes over various theories about why and what is happening. At around 1:30, a panicked Fred Nadel runs into the investigator's room, hysterical. He manages to get out that Tensy is having nightmares and he and Dora can't wake her up. Pandemonium! Ross tries to yell at Tensy to wake up; Dora screams that she did that. Leticia slaps her and demands someone to bring some water. Maj. Haywrd tries to establish control. Suddenly, everyone near Tensy is thrown back. Leticia slams against the wall, but is unhurt; Ross slides against the floor; Dora is knocked out. Maj. Haywrd tries to shake her awake, but the sheets seem to snake around his arms. He fights them off, and Leticia throws water into Tensy's face. She wakes up. She dreamed of The Gate and all of her stage-family. She's terrified, but can barely keep her eyes open. The intelligence team run in. Despite her best attempts, Tensy falls asleep (while standing!) and despite the water and the slaps, she won't wake up. Meanwhile, Antoinette and Ross help wake Dora, who is ok, but who now has a big bump on her head. Again, an invisible force throws everyone away from Tensy, including the beefy Mark. Mark and Leticia quickly get back to Tensy. Again, the sheets attack, but Mark shoves them away. Tensy starts to glow, then flicker, then hideously transform, with giant tumors enlarging over her body, twisting and warping. Tensy's clothes rip off and the tumors wildly deform her. Ross and Dora yells for someone to cast the spell. Antoinette yells that she doesn't know it yet, and Milli starts to cry and says she doesn't either. Agent Lawrence and Kenneth Pakes decide to give it their best shot, but both scream it takes a while to perform! Lawrence tries first, drawing the pattern around Tensy as the others try to hold her down. She's throbbing and bubbling and transforming and the others are wildly moving about, desperately trying to hold on to her and wake her up. Right as he's about to finish the ritual, one of the investigator's shoes wipes away part of his pattern. Lawrence knows that he's finished. Tensy, who has been silently screaming the entire time, now screams out loud, and for a few seconds, pleads with everyone to save her. Then, back to silent screaming. She levitates. They pick her up and carry her outside, hoping that outside nothing will animate and attack them. Mark lays on top of her, forcing her down, and Ross and Leticia dog-pile on top of him. Kenneth quickly starts to draw the pattern and chant the ritual; meanwhile, Tensy is thrashing around and the others are trying to hold her down. After about 20 seconds, Tensy starts coughing blood and her jaw unhinges; her body wildly convulses right as Kenneth is finishing the ritual. For a second, it seems as if Tensy is going to turn inside out, but as soon as Kenneth finishes his ritual, Tensy's body snaps back to normality. She coughs up a bit of blood. She opens her eyes and starts crying. She's seemingly safe – for now. Dora and Fred rush over, crying and holding her. Clues, Objects, Spells: Clues The Mayan Codex, on the fifth page, says, "The passageway to the moon must be cautiously walked on. The moon path lies along the path to Xibalba, whose Lords must never be awakened. The door of the moon (or gate of the moon) Hun-Came (One Death) and Vucub-Came (Seven Death) will send Xiquiripat (Flying Scab) or Cuchumaquic (Gathered Blood). Ahau Can Mai must give the protection to the coin and pay it to the Old-Black-God for he will keep the Lords of Xibalba's eyes shut." Milli believes this means that the "protection ritual" must be cast. Spells Walk through Shadow Valley: this spell might allow the caster to walk through a wall. Call the Night, Hide the Moon: this spell calls a thick inky darkness that is impossible to see through. A Coin for the Old, Black God: this spell might be some sort of protection spell. Locations: Washington Square Park Arch; The Ocelot, a theater on 32nd and roadway; Fred Nadel's apartment on 18th and Park Av Session 3 (Archway to the Underworld): The team goes underneath the Washington Square Arch, ready to kick ass. Session 4 (Blackwell's Shadows): The investigators research the clues. Characters: Antoinette Sturm, a strong willed anthropologist who is well known for two books detailing with violent cults in war torn societies. Kenneth Pakes, a young, rich, and arrogant occult specialist who has spent most of his life debunking frauds in various newspapers, but who secretly wants proof that the occult exists. Millicent Massey, a mousy, shy, and brilliant young archaeologist. Agent Lawrence Landsburg, a nebbishy but physically tough former structural engineer and cryptologist. Until the Secret Service, he hasn't had a job that he throughly loves. Maj. (ret.) Piers Haywrd, a well decorated career soldier who was brought into this Secret Service team because of his supernatural experiences in China. Leticia Haythornthwaite, an extremely fiery and strong willed adventurer, pilot, and captain who is a bit down on her luck. She has worked with Maj. Haywrd several time in the past. Ross Merrick, a charming and funny detective who is a well-known womanizer, and who is known as one of the best independent detectives in the city. He is partners with Mark. Mark Learson, a family man who is one of the best detectives in the city, and who loves animals (esp. his dog Boru), is a vegetarian, and who dreams of opening up a school to teach his family's sword-fighting style. He is partners with Ross.